Piers McCarthy reviews the second episode of The Walking Dead season 4…
The Walking Dead continues to be one of the least consistent (if, always enjoyable) TV shows currently airing. Many episodes are haphazard, with some scenes a tad too long or moments of action and fore perhaps too short for what fans want and expect. Episode 1 of Season 4 had a sporadic scene of zombie-infused madness and weapons shooting, hacking and stabbing, not quite as nail-biting as previous episodes. The episode did, however, end on quite a spectacular cliff-hanger, for an episode still quite hit and miss.
Major spoilers follow…
Vincent Martella’s Patrick had a pretty brief stint in the new season. It makes sense for a show where more people die than Game of Thrones; Patrick got the sniffles instantly signalling his demise. At the end of “30 Days without an Accident” the poor lad dropped dead with his eyes bleeding. “Infected” doesn’t actually start with the boy shuffling around the prison; it has one short prologue, and a quiet scene that leads up to it.
As if the tension of knowing Patrick lurks around the sleeping prison wasn’t enough, director Guy Ferland starts the episode showing an unknown figure feeding the zombies at the chain fence (a gruesomely realistic shot showing a rat get devoured). It’s unexplained and concise in its screen time, an enigma that so far isn’t resolved.
For a show that isn’t too focused on scares, “Infection” starts like a clichéd horror film. Karen and Tyreese are enjoying each other’s late night company when Karen insists she go back to her room. Tyreese’s “Under my Skin” crooning wasn’t smooth enough it seems. On Karen’s walk back – in absolute darkness – the torch she’s using begins to lose its power. A knowing audience will see this as a very common trope in horror, so far absent in The Walking Dead. The clues just keep on comin’ after that, too – sudden noises to rouse Karen’s suspicions, shower curtain upon shower curtain hiding all kinds of possibilities, and, of course, the foolish protagonist who goes investigating into the darkness. Despite all this anticipation, Patrick does not uncover himself until Karen leaves. A perfect way to finish that build-up, it only leaves Patrick undetected, able to do more damage.
And damage he does. Killing off one character has a domino effect where nearly all of Cell Block D are infected or dead. Meanwhile the walkers outside are clawing at the fence, putting pressure on the basis of their security. As we don’t see what’s happening in D for about 10 minutes, there is profound dread felt by the viewer as we wait for the chaos to be noticed. When the alarm is sounded, the sanctuary becomes a battleground.
“Infected” sums up the episode better than most of The Walking Dead’s titles. For this episode, not only do many of the team suffer an infection, but “infected” also relates to the virus spreading into the refuge. Michonne coming back to help after hearing gunshots is nearly bit when a select few walkers follow her in. It’s a minute mishap but it speaks volumes for how bad things are getting. Michonne’s rescue also alerts a ton of the undead. Even with the Governor vanished there is still enough terror lurking all around.
Inside Cell D wails and walkers fill the scene – it may not take long to kill all the infected but it leaves a lot of destruction in its wake. This is where the episode starts to lull. Fans are prepared for this and solemnly let it slide. It isn’t all terrible and having the group find out and ruminate over the new disease is interesting. They are without any proper dilemmas currently so throwing a flu-like, deadly disease into the mix helps with the dramatic impact.
Council meetings, deliberations over death (Carol helping two young girls kill their father before he turns) and Michonne’s fear of babies makes up most of the remaining episode. It’s nothing special or exciting, but after the first 20 minutes, thought (and lots and lots of dialogue) is required. The writers may have been aware of this respite in action and so throw in a walker breach (well, a near-breach where the fence almost gives way to the mass of biting, snatching monsters).
Perfectly in keeping with the theme of the episode, the close-collapse of the fence leads to the piglets being sacrificed as bait (a diversion away from the fence). With the group pushing against the force of the walkers puts enormous pressure on the decaying bodies of the undead. Every episode has one stand-out example of make-up/effects (henceforth known as “Walker Win” for weekly reviews) and “Infected” it is unquestionably the shot of a walker’s head pushing through the chain face, with its face slicing through the grid. It’s all too much for Rick et al, giving them the idea of using the piglets. As their mother had died (from unknown reasons) it’s also a reason to get rid of what could be a litter of infected bacon. Animal rights activist would surely not approve but it does the job. Played out with the long, grave song of a violin, it’s a powerful scene highlighting the show’s best facet – the melancholy spurring out of seemingly unimportant events.
Ending in a similar vein to episode 1, Tyreese finds two burnt bodies on the roof. A self-sacrifice/suicide, it’s another two bodies in the prison dead and gone. If Season 3 marked a larger world uninfected, Season 4 is slowly killing them off.
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Originally published October 25, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
